Thursday - a change from the norm...

Global warming seems to have given us very changeable warm and muggy weather even up here in Droushia.  This has not been good for visitors but means that the garden is doing really well and things which would normally now be struggling are looking fabulous and with rain and heavy overnight condensation I haven't needed to do too much watering either.

Bassam gave me a wisteria plant a couple of years ago and it normally starts the season looking pretty good and then a couple of month's in struggles, wilts and the leaves yellow and fall off.  This year however it has really done well and we have loads of fresh new growth on it.

I know that it may be several years before I get any blooms on it but I am hopeful as this is positioned just inside the garden gate and so should provide a fabulous column of colour and scent as you approach the front door.  I think wisteria can be picky about pruning but so far I have just left it to do its own thing and that approach seems to be working.

I cannot normally grow roses but this year is an exception.  The standard red rose which we planted in memory of Hadge is a riot of blooms at the moment - I think I counted about 40 the other day and the small plant which Elaine gave me last year or possibly the year before has shot up to about eight foot and atop are a mass of flowers which have that lovely old fashioned smell to them.  I have no idea what sort of rose this is and whether it is a climber but I shall be giving it a severe prune once it has finished flowering otherwise it is going to be far too tall to do anything with.

So today we had a change from the norm.  Our numbers for pickleball have been a little disrupted by holidays, visitors and injury and a player who doesn't ever seem to remember he is supposed to be playing and forgets to pitch up so rather than cancel today's session Mum and I were going to play to make up the numbers even though we could only play until 2.30 because we had been invited to Liselotte and John's for afternoon tea, a game of cards and an evening meal.

I drove the back way out of Droushia for a change - the colours of the landscape and the sky make it look a little like the UK.  Normally there is no-one on this road but today I followed two trucks who left a great plume of dust in their wake so had to keep the windows firmly shut!

I took down Mum's new phone and we went off to Cyta to get a sim card that would fit.  This is a special DORO phone which has been designed for those who may struggle with mobiles and appears to be pretty intuitive.  I decided Mum should keep her trusty old phone for the moment and set up the new one so she can contact me, John and my sister Kaye on it until she is happy with how it works and then we can transfer over her sim and contacts from the old phone to this.  Within a short period of time she was using What'sApp to contact my sister who is currently on a family holiday in Cornwall and received some lovely videos and pictures of great-grandson Jack back in return.  So far so good - I even get messages with little 'smileys' attached.  Well done Mum - keep it up so we can consign the steam-driven moby to the bin.

There were only four of us at pickleball and we only played for an hour as Mum and I had to leave early but it was a workout and it meant Jeff and Tina got a game.

We arrived at John and Liselotte's at 4.00pm and Liselotte had made a rhubarb crumble for us to have with a cuppa but first we went for a wander around their garden or at least the bit which is immediately outside the back of the house.  It is absolutely beautiful, as is the house.  Liselotte's sense of Danish Style is evident throughout there is a calm and order to the garden and the house.

They have a lot of land attached to their home, some is set aside for raised beds for vegetables and a lot is laid down to olive and fruit trees.  They are secluded having only one neighbour nearby and look out over open countryside with the sea in the distance.  The house is a bit of a tardis - it is always difficult to gauge how big a bungalow might be but they have a super kitchen/diner/lounge area, a little study/cosy room and then a long corridor which houses the three bedrooms and bathrooms.  I love it, in fact John and I agree it would have been our ideal home in Cyprus but with just the immediate land around the house not all the rest of it.

We played a game of their version of Noms before having supper and then managed half a game afterwards before we had to call it a day and I took John back to Droushia and then drove Mum back to Emba where I stayed the night.

Oh boy did we have a laugh, John and Liselotte were fabulous hosts and made us so very welcome.  The food and drink were fabulous and the stories that John came out with were so funny and covered every subject you could think of including one about a man 'shitting in the woods' - Mum just found it all hilarious.  I think she really enjoyed herself as no-one cut her any slack not even when we were playing cards!

We had a lovely drive back to Fred who was patiently waiting for us to return so he could have a cuddle before bed.  I was a bit concerned when I returned to internet contact to see that Kim had been trying to contact us as Steve was poorly.  I managed to phone her and hope she will be able to get him sorted out.